Goodbye Mad Dog

Corda, lounging on the blanket Daddy bought her for Christmas.

Corda, lounging by the pool with Flat Stanley against her.

 

I realized that I haven't posted in over a year.  I haven't really done any stitching either.  That is mainly because my beloved Corda was having more and more health problems.  And the stress of those problems wearing even harder on my husband.  After a long period of gastro-intestinal problems she was finally diagnosed with megaesophagus.  We spent many hours every day holding her vertical to feed her or let her drink because gravity was the only way to get food past the esophagus into her stomach.  We held her vertical for at least 30 minutes after each meal and drink.  The main problem with this rotten illness is not the regurgitation all over the house.  We bought carpet cleaner by the case and I'm sure the paper towel stock must have risen just from our purchases.  The main problem aspiration pneumonia.  We did everything we could to avoid this, but in the end it defeated us and we lost her.  

I don't think I've ever been so heartbroken in my life.  When I think back to all the bad things that have happened in my life, none of them hurt as much as this does.

I am, however, starting to crawl out of my well of despair.  I had dropped out of my favorite Yahoo group, Stitchmap, months ago.  I was getting 200 emails a day from the megaesophagus group and had no time to read anything else.  Yesterday, I turned it back on.  It's heartening to see emails from those wonderful people who have become such good friends.  I'm getting to the point of only crying 2 or 3 times a day instead of 2 or 3 times an hour.  It's progress.

We had a lot of names for Corda.  Her registered name was Sursum Corda - Latin for live up your hearts.  She was Good Girl because she simply never did anything wrong.  She was CIA dog because she loved to peer around the corner to spy on us, never realizing her nose preceeded her by several inches.  She was the Sentinel when she struck that regal and alert pose that made you think of how she would look watching out for her sheep.  She was Mulch Dog when she managed to come into the house with all kinds of leaves, and thistles, and mulch sticking to her fur.  But I think her favorite name was mad dog.  When a car would go by on her walks she would rear up, bark like crazy, run around in circles, and then look back at us with the biggest grin, satisfied that she scared off the monster and saved us.

I pray she is up in Rainbow Bridge, healthy again, and waiting for us to join her.

INTERFERENCE ON MY QUILT

I was trying to make the quilt sandwich for a utility quilt I was making for Ken.  Corda decided that this was where the action was and refused to leave.  Ken picked her up 5 times to get her off the quilt while we tried to straighten it, but a few seconds later, there she was again.

We finally realized we were beaten and pinned the quilt on the bed.

I FINISHED THE QUILT

I have been working on a quilt for a friend's wedding for almost 2 years.  I'm not really late - I've been told that a wedding quilt is not really late until their fifth anniversary.  Anyway, this quilt was a bit beyond my skill level and a did a ton of frogging on it.  It feels great to be finished.

I keep a journal of all the quilts I make and the most important section in that journal is "Lessons Learned".  That section is longer for this quilt than any other I've made.  But I really enjoyed doing it.

The colors were hard to capture.  I've posted 2 pictures of the front - one in sun and one in shade.

The top one was taken more in the shade, and the bottom one in the sun.  I played with them in a picture editor, which helped.  Interesting what a difference it makes.

The back has a picture of the bride and groom in the middle.  The squares around the picture are pieces of cloth that I brought to the wedding for guests to sign.

All in all, I'm happy with the project.

GREAT VACATION

Just got back from a wonderful vacation.  We spent a week camping at Luna-White Deer lake in northern Wisconsin.  What a fantastic place.  We were virtually alone there - no phones, no people, no one else but the loons.  I really didn't want to come back.

Sunset from our campsite.

Mad Dog the Magnificent surveying her new domain.

It was cold, she is old, we thought we should keep her warm.  This lasted about 30 seconds before she burst out of her little cocoon to bark at the squirrels.

From inside the tent.

Is it time for dinner.

A GREAT CLASS

I had the opportunity to take a class with Betty Pillsbury a couple of weeks ago at Designer's Desk in Geneva, IL.  She is a wonderful teacher.  I just brought muslin with me instead of a block.  I always agonize over what to put in any seam treatment.  After 2 days with Betty I have much more confidence.  She was also very generous in sharing her stash.  I didn't have all the right supplies with me and she was quick to share.  These pictures are just what I was able to get done during class, but I'm going to expand on them greatly.  My only regret was that I was unable to make the first day as well.

This was wired ribbon scrunched up and tacked down.  And the feather stitches were actually done with no marking.  That is definitely a new one for me.

 This is the SRE.  I had some trouble with the iris, but I loved the delphiniums on the right.  I'll definitely use those in the future.

 This was a piece of velvet ribbon covered with herringbone stitches and bugle beads - a few french knots to finish it off.

Feather stitch with BEADS!!!  How cool is that?

All this is just some of what we did.  Bottom line, don't miss a chance to take a course with Betty.

FINALLY FINISHED LESSON 6

I've been taking a basic CQ class on STITCHMAP.  I've fallen behind, but over the holiday weekend I caught up.  The class has us making a thread holder, a pin cushion and a needle holder.  The thread holder was focused on seam treatments and embroidered motifs.  The pin cushion will focus on beading, and the needle holder on SRE.

This is the thread holder.  I made the spider web with DMC metalic floss- that stuff is hard to work with.  The button cluster again showcases my love for the bright and shiney .  I will probably add some beading when I complete the beading lesson.

3 LOVELY GIVEAWAYS

First of all Ruby is giving away a lovely assortment of fluffy yarn.  I'm hoping to be one of the winners.  I think it will be lovely couched on a CQ piece.
http://neitherbrilliantnorbeautiful.blogspot.com/2010/06/cool-giveaways-hot-summer-days.html

Second, Kerry has started a weekly giveaway that she wants to continue until she runs out of stash.  I believe this will be going on for a very long time.
http://kerrykatiecakes2.blogspot.com/2010/06/giveaway-days.html

And third, Pat Winters is celebrating the first day of summer with a wonderful giveaway.
http://gatherings100.blogspot.com/2010/06/first-day-of-summer-giveaway.html

Go check these 3 giveaways out and have a chance to add some wonderful items to your own stash.